Skype for Windows Phone updated. Adds high definition video support and more

Microsoft bought Skype back in May of 2011, so you’d think we’d have the premier mobile Skype experience on Windows Phone right? Well, it’s been somewhat of a rough start. The first app on Windows Phone couldn’t run in the background and more recent versions have been missing features found on iOS and Android. Well, Skype just got another update for Windows Phone, let’s see what it brings.

The last big update to Skype came back in early January. But if you direct your attention to the Windows Phone Store, you’ll see a new Skype sitting there at version 2.4.0.108. What do you get in the latest version? Three nifty features actually.

Show your smile or just what’s around you – with front and rear camera support.

Video calls in portrait or landscape, whichever feels best.

It’s nearly midnight here on the West Coast, so I haven’t had a chance to test out the new high definition video support. We’ll play with it in the morning when people are actually awake and see if we can notice better video quality during video calls. You also get front and rear camera support, a welcome addition for when you want to share what you’re seeing with someone (and a feature we’ve heard in the comments you want). And finally you can now make video calls in either portrait or landscape, again a nice addition.

Update: Found a friend on the West Coast willing to put up with a Skype call at midnight. Everbody send Chris a high five. So we tried out the video calls on our Windows Phone, he has an 8X on Verizon and I was using a Lumia 620 (I know, test out the high definition video support on an entry level handset, good move Sam). That said, I can't comment on video quality just yet. WiFi at the far end of the house and the Lumia 620 probably don't show off the high defintion support of Skype. Play around with it yourself and let us know below if you see any improvements. The two features I can comment on are the new landscape and rear camera support. Rear camera works as you expect, you just hit the video icon during the call and select 'switch camera' from the options. Skype will automatically switch to landscape when you change the orientation of the phone. It looked nice and is a perfect combo when you're using it with the rear camera. Anyways, let us know below what you think of the latest update. Below are some screenshots from the video call. Again I'm going to stress bad WiFi plus low-end front-facing camera equal blurry time. That said, I am jazzed about the landscape support.

Another neat thing, it looks like Skype is back in the People Hub. We saw it disappear in early January as it was reported to cause syncing problems. Looks like they’re back in with this update.

But, there are some things still missing. For example, you can’t send another user a video message, like you can on iOS. Still, we welcome any updates to Skype and you should probably go ahead and update it right now. What other features do you want to see in future versions of Skype? Sound off in the comments below.

Before we go, Joe Belfiore sent out this cryptic tweet on Twitter tonight saying:

“Been wondering about some of the apps I've been using on my phone? This will be a good week to find out! 1st answer comes in the morning...”

Could the Skype update be the app(s) he’s referring to? Or are we in store for some more surprises in a couple hours? Stick around and we’ll find out.

Skype is free for Windows Phone 7.x and 8 here in the Windows Phone Store, use the QR below, or swipe to the right in our app. Update: My Windows Phone 7.x device is currently kaput, so I can't test whether or not there's an update for Skype for you guys, but some folks in the comments aren't seeing it on their 7.5 and 7.8 devices. It might just be an update for Windows Phone 8, sorry guys.

This is true. I have a galaxy tab 2 & so many apps/games won't work on my tablet. And it just had an update, still many top apps/games are incompatible. And the lag, OH MY GOD THE LAG! Getting an android for my bday has reignited my flame for my Windows Phone!

I just returned a galaxy tab 2. It really made me apprecite my Windows RT and phone. I had it for two weeks. The only thing is, I guess you get what you pay for, as it is cheap. I had the tablet for 2 weeks. I don't get what people think is great with Android. IMO it was a UI mess, slow, unresponsive, and the Galaxy tab 2 particularly, the screen was unimpressive to me.

Never before have I received a single message or call notification in Skype on WP8 without having it open first, but I just updated and had a friend try with me and I FINALLY got both message notifications, AND a call through without having it open. It's finally bordering on useful for me now.

Was the "Switch Accounts" option always there? Can't say I ever noticed it before, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention

People show so little interest in WP7. WhatsApp and KIK can receive notifications in the background. But Skype can.
Then Nokia Drive can go offline. But Nokia Maps can.
WhatsApp and CNN for Windows Phone 8 can use the wide-tile function. But even on Windows Phone 7.8 (where wide tiles should work), those apps can not go wide tile.

A three-year old iPhone (4th generation) runs all the apps of today. A 9 month Lumia 900 doesn't.

I know that WP8 is now improved. But does Microsoft deserve my money? I spent $645 on an unlocked Nokia Lumia 900 before June. Microsoft should already be happy. I'm sure Apple is ready to embrace me.

First, one has to remember that I was in Italy. There are no $99 contracts here.
Second, it was an unlocked phone. I didn't want contracts.
Third, Microsoft tried to show it's superiority of Windows Phone by saying it was better than Apple and Android. The iPhone 4 is three years old. It is still the second most used camera on Flickr. And it got iOS6. And ALL the apps work on it. I expected my phone to get the latest update too. And the latest apps.

(The actual price of the Lumia 900 in Italy was $775. I was lucky to get the $130 discount.
Buying an iPhone may have saved me today, only that the iPhone 4S (16GB) had an approximate price of $850 on the website. Imagine what it would be in a real store. Probably much higher.
If that doesn't blow your hat off, the 64 GB version of the iPhone 4S had a price of $1160 on the website.
Welcome to Italy.)

Actually I didn't. I suspected Windows 8. What I didn't suspect was Windows Phone 8. And I thought at least that it would be upgradeable. Like iPhones (who Microsoft were trying to bypass in the "Smoked by a Windows Phone" campaign).

This is a legitimate gripe. I'll give MS a pass this on time, but this had better be the last time there is such a huge difference between platforms. This pisses people off, and I'm guessing there were a lot of people who purchased 900's days and weeks prior to the 920.

totally agree to this!
they shouldn't have released the L900 as the windows phone 7 flagship in the first place! MS would already have known that wp7 hardware won't run wp8. why did they still go ahead making a new (and rather expensive) flagship phone?

They knew. People were speculating at rumours that WP7 wouldn't be upgradeable already in April. Microsoft confirmed the truth too late. The phone had been live in the US for three months, in Italy three weeks...

Switch Accounts is new.
I was getting reliable message notifications from messenger people before but broke frequently and I never had a surefilre way to fix it.
Hoping this update rectifies it permanently and not a temporary fix for a few days.

They need to integrate into the Messages hub, just like Messenger is/was.

They also need to address networking and message delivery issues. Between desktop versions and mobile, I have seen that some messages get lost or not shown at all using the Messenger (not Skype) feature.

The HD video call is a welcome addition. I will try it this morning when some of my contacts are awake :D

this application still does not provide a deasent notification support, which basically makes the application useless. who wants to use an instant messaging app that can't tell you thats its reciving information *sighs*

Actually uninstalling and reinstalling Skype seems to be necessary at any time.

After the Portico update, Skype's notificiations and call receiving screwed up on my 920. I uninstalled it and reinstalled and it was fine again.

Same is true for this update. Firstly just upgraded and found I did not have all the features available, and I didn't have the image feedback (the little window of myself) in the bottom right of the screen. I uninistalled completely and then installed Skype afresh and everything came good and I was able to view the feedback view, and able to swap camera (front/rear).
My suggestion to anyone having issues with Skype or an app in general - uninstall it fully, then install (you may want to restart your phone if you really want to get narky about it). But that fixes all sorts of things.

Doesn't support 7.8. I'm really disappointed. I should have chosen Android, but I got way too excited about the idea of single OS environment for PC and smartphone. Unfortunately Microsoft really screwed that one up. I bought my phone like 14 months ago and it's already half-dead since most updates come only for WP8 and some developers don't bother updating their apps at all after enough people bought it.

In the people Hub It adds your Skype Contacts and then you can make a Skype Call by tapping "Skype, Voice, video, chat". It calls the contact. What I think it needed is a seperate option for chat and voice.

cant login after reinstalling. wonder if this is a issue with my mobile network. do i have to be on wifi to login the first time after reinstalling? - No its not - took me like 15 minutes to login - finally worked

OFFTOPIC: I see this happen on so many sites, but I didn't expect it on WP Central: the wrongly scaled screen of the Nokia Lumia 920. People who paste in a screenshot or image in the 920 use the tiles on the homescreen to determine where the screen ends, because the bezel is all black and it's not clear where the screen stops in the official press photos.
The tiles however stop halfway the I in NOKIA, while the actual screen stops at the end of A in NOKIA. Also the screen is supposed to be closer to the NOKIA logo. This is a 4.3" screen (or even smaller and maybe 16:9) in a 920 body which has a 4.5" 16:10 screen :D

Im fed up with MS over this, I brought my HTC Titan in October 2011, by March the following year it was redundent. It was released in September, now im seeing all the updates and best software heading to Windows Phone 8. Not good support, even Apple wasnt this bad, might jump back across too, being a Windows Developer completely integrated in with MS I feel let down completely.

Contracts up soon, MS might be losing one of there long standing fans.

Nooo. Please don't say that. Look, I know that the switch from 7.x to 8 has been a whole mess but I'm convinced that this was the only option they had for WP to make it into the mainstream. And I say that as someone still rocking a 7.8 device. I feel like you're contract is up soon and you should really consider sticking with WP because it's a great product. We'll get there. Try it. Think about it. Sleep on it. I hate seeing people go because we've build such an amazing community. I would certainly not let anyone go without a fight. ;) The fact of the matter is, technology sometimes moves faster than some of us feel comfortable with l. That's just how it goes, but it's all for the best. Eventually.
Much love!

It crashes on me everytime, not even able to make any call, message or check my profile settings...reinstalled doesn't help me...Lumia 920 without porticio update here, wonder is that the problem causing it???

There should be a FaceTime like integration. There is no need of an application called SKYPE. Come on microsoft .... that was the original deal, bake Skype into the OS (deeeeeper integration guys !!!) and you have not been able to achieve that even after 2.5 Years of Windows Phone existence. I am a Windows Phone fan, but i am not blind. Other OS's are making rapid progress, and we are still playing catching up. What we really need at this time is more frequent releases (6 month Schedule) and go one up on the competition. I own a Lumia 920 and really appreciate what Nokia is bringing to the Windows eco-system. But even they have their hands tied because of the Operating System weaknesses/lack of support. So please show some love to super users and bring the much needed features to the OS.
Finally .....NO, i am not impressed with this release.

Thats correct, my mistake. But thats not an excuse. Remember we are playing catch-up not the competition. I want Windows Phone to succeed and for that they need shorter release cycles to iron out all the issues/new features. I have a lot of patience and even then i sometime feel an urge to try Samsung Galaxy S4. I am sure many of you people here feel the same at times.

Some problem i am currently having with this version
- when i am not in the Skyp app, someone called me on video call, it would direct me to the skype app, keep loading and loading for like 3 minutes, got disconnected. Some times it does go into the app, but do not get the call, i have to try video again.
- If my phone get offline, (no Wifi, no data), any message during that time would not be populated. Everytime i reconnect to internet, the skyp app does not auto push the message. Keep waiting and waiting, no message for those offline interval. any message sent after im online is fine. I have to reopen the app in order to see the offline messaged. Weird, please fix MSFT

"Indirectly"? There's nothing indirect about it. Although Skype is not part of the OS, it's clear that MS isn't going to spend much time or money on WP7.8 users anymore. Except for security updates and bug fixes, I think we're done seeing anything new for WP7 from MS. This is just more evidence of it.

Works better. I wa able to finally receive a call from my daughters Nabi 2. The thing is thought it still shows that I'm offline. Also it still has to resume when relaunching the app. it's a start in the right direction though.

So Skype works well, however I get so sick and tired of being forced to integrate my contacts together, I have deleted the program from my 920 again because this was what I didn't like the first time around. Give me the option to mingle my contacts don't shove it down my throat,

Has anyone checked their people hub and its integration? The folks I have already in my people hub got the Skype link of their accout, but the people hub replaced the mobile numbers of my contact with the +1 +11 country code BS and now I can't call these folks without editing the phone numbers!!!!!! What a mess.

For all those who are enjyoying the Peoples Hub integration.....Is there a way to merge all the duplicates? You know not by doing it one by one. Coz a lot of my conacts duplicated and I'm not sure how everyone can deal with that mess.

Skype messenger STILL DOES NOT WORK on my Lumia 920. I use Skype regularly, not just for video calls, but for chat purposes, and it is unbelievable that this feature is so badly implemented. If it doesn't work, why even bother to include it? And I'm sure that can't be reasuring to the people who rely on Microsoft Messenger, and are being forced into Skype.
Same thing with xBox Live. Terrible implementation. These are Microsoft services for Christ's sake. They should work close to flawlessly, yet I find myself using third-party messenger apps because the Skype service is so terrible.

I got my Lumia 920 on Tuesday (on the update release date) so I can't comment on the previous version. But this version is a total mess. After installing Skype, my front camera randomly stopped working, it just wouldn't switch between rear and front camera in both, normal camera mode and Skype app. I left my phone charging over the night, and couldn't wake it up in the morning (had to use a soft reset). After uninstalling Skype, everything's working fine. This is just a massive shamble, shame on you MS!

I don't understand why this app has to suck so bad, they need to start with a simple functional chat app, that works as good and as fast and clean as SMS messaging does. Then voice, then video, then bells and whistles. The current version of Skype on wp8 is a joke for those of us who actually use it. It so bad I'm carrying my android around just to Skype chat. WTH? Come on Microsoft, its not like you just bought Skype yesterday.....